Trouble in cell block A
by MBsinger
Summary: Catherine and Nick are assigned to a suspicious death at the women’s correctional facility. While they begin to process the cell where the victim lived, there is a minor scuffle and Nick is taken hostage until their demands are met. Rating is just in cas
1. Chapter 1

**Trouble in cell block A**

By MBsinger

I own nothing having to do with CSI which is the property of CBS and its folks.

_Setting_: After Grave Danger, a few weeks after Nick has returned to work.

_Summary_: Catherine and Nick are assigned to a suspicious death at the women's correctional facility. While they begin to process the cell where the victim lived, there is a minor scuffle and Nick is taken hostage until their demands are met.

A/N – Don't worry, I won't do anything too serious to poor Nick, he's been through enough. There are no pairings in this story, at least none that I plan for right now.

"Nicky, you're late."

Nick waited until he reached his supervisor before replying. "Hey, Catherine. Sorry about that. Dec. got a little wordy today in our session."

"How's the counseling going?"

"Fine." He had to laugh when he received the same look from Catherine that he might get from one of his sisters which said 'you're not done with that explanation.' "As she put it, things are coming along fine and I am progressing nicely. I will probably be uncomfortable with bugs, in tight spaces, and dark secluded places for a while, but that is to be expected. Blah blah blah. I wish she would learn a different tune."

"Are you really talking to her, or are you just saying whatever will get you back to solo work as quick as you can?"

"I'm talking to the doctor, mom. And between you and me, I am sick of feeling the way I do. I want to get back to my view of normal, but I am not really where I would want to be to be doing solo work, Cat."

"And where is that, Nick?"

"Where I can really trust the officer to watch my back without checking on them. If I don't get to that place, then my attention is divided, and I can't do my job properly."

"I understand, Nick, and it's good that you recognize that. Right now, I'm not ready to let you out of anyone's sight either. It's affecting Warrick too, because he gets sent out with someone I trust to watch his back. I am not having any of my guys getting out of someone's sight any time soon. But for today, you're working with me."

"Where to, boss lady?"

"The women's correctional facility. One of the inmates died, and it didn't appear to be from natural causes."

"So when are we going?"

"When Vega gets here, he's coming with us."

"Bringing out the big guns, huh?"

"Yea, well, to be honest, I tried to get Sara for this. Don't get me wrong, I know you can handle it, but in this place, I'm not generally the one going to be viewed as eye candy, you are."

"Well I'll just have to stick close to my big bad boss lady to protect me."

"You bet. And who are you calling big?"

"Hey Vega, how's it going?" Glad to have the detective at just the right time to get him out of a minor sticky situation.

"As well as can be expected, I guess. How are you doing?"

"The duct tape and string that they keep handing me seems to be keeping me together so far."

"Maybe that counselor you're seeing can help you find a working sense of humor in there somewhere."

"That assumes that I had one in the first place."

Det. Vega just smirked as he shook his head. "So true. I know I've said it before, but I am glad to have you back, Nick."

"Thanks."

Catherine just hung back from the two men. It certainly was good to have the young CSI back at work. It was getting too serious in the lab with him out for those weeks. Every time someone passed his locker, it was a quiet reminder of why he wasn't at the lab. It was still a little quieter in the lab during shift, but it was getting better, thanks to Nick.

When his parents had taken him home to Texas for a few weeks, the rumors had started flying that he had handed in his resignation and was remaining in Texas. It wasn't until Nick left a message for Catherine and Ecklie through the switch board that the rumors stopped, for the receptionist posted the message for all to see – "I will be returning to Las Vegas this weekend, and be back in the lab on Monday. Got cleared to return to work to assist on cases. Say hi to the gang for me. – Nick Stokes." She suspected that one of the gang contacted him about the rumors that were flying around, and he left this very public message as a means to let everyone know that the rumors were just that.

That was about two months ago, and it looked like he was indeed making progress, but she was certainly going to give her CSI whatever time he needed to get back in the saddle.

The three officers reached the gate and after showing proper identification they were allowed through the gate. They were escorted through the one cell block to the home of the deceased. Nick did his best to ignore the cat calls aimed his way, and kept his eyes either on his companions, or on the floor in front of him. He received his fair share of attention from women, but this was different. Here, now, he felt like a piece of fresh meat, and he was not comfortable. When they reached their destination he quickly walked in to the cell to begin processing the living quarters, leaving the initial questions to Catherine. It was the best way to insure that he was out of most people's eye sight.

About twenty minutes after they arrived at the scene, a loud ruckus was heard, and alarm went off. Nick looked to Catherine and Vega to see if either knew what was going on. The blank look did not give him the confidence that this was a test or false alarm. Then he heard one of the guards call to them to leave the cell block, and that they would make sure to keep the cell locked and off limits for their return.

Catherine waved to Nick, who gathered his things to leave the jail cell. Catherine, with her arms through one of Nick's, quickly walked towards the exit of the cell block. Just before they were able to reach the exit, the gate closed, locking them in the cell block. A noise behind them caused them to turn around to see that the doors to a couple of cells had been opened and the inmates were exiting their cells.

Catherine called out to the guards to let them out. She was picking up the attitude of the inmates and they did not look too friendly to her.

"What is going on here?" Vega called out to the guard that he had previously been talking to as they had arrived. But a different voice answered his inquiry.

"Relax officer, we hope that this will all be over soon, with your co-operation."

Vega saw Nick jump as he was grabbed from behind. He called out, "Hey, let him go!" but he could do nothing more about it. Both he and Catherine were now surrounded by about 15 inmates. He watches as a few of the inmates held on to Nick, while one of the body builder types hit him across the face to knock him out. "That should stop his struggling." She said.

"Nicky!" Catherine tried to get to her partner, but was blocked.

Then a voice was heard from somewhere up above. "Shay! Knock it off. We don't want any more injuries here. That is not why we are doing this, and that is not going to accomplish our goal. Sorry about that, he'll be fine, I'll see to it. And there will be no more of that." They saw a woman descend the stairs and as she kept talking they realized that she was the one in charge here.

"I see you're waiting for my next move, so why don't I just tell you what we want to happen, and then go from there. I am never one for beating around the bush. We currently have control over the gates to this block. The ones who are out of their cells agree with what we are trying to do here, the others will remain locked in their cells until this is over. We are not trying to get out of here by any other means but through the proper legal channels. What we want is for someone to look into this place. Lora is not the first one even in this block to lose her life here needlessly. The conditions here are awful, and we just want to feel as safe as we can here. Shay kind of changed my plans here by knocking pretty boy out, so he will stay here with us until we hear from you two. We do not expect this to be done quickly, but we want the ball rolling. Every time someone has mailed out a letter or an email of complaint, someone here intercepts it, and then they become the next victim. It doesn't always mean loss of life, but it is intolerable none the less." She looked to the two officers in their midst.

Catherine spoke up and addressed the leader directly. "Can I speak to you privately?"

"Sure."

"That is not a good idea." Both Shay and Vega said at the same time.

Catherine and the other woman turned to each of them and assured them that they would be fine. The inmate told her friend Shay to make Nick comfortable in the empty cell on the extra bed, and to allow the cop to watch what they were doing.

"Okay, you and I are alone. What did you want talk to me about out of ear shot from my friends."

"Listen, I'm not going to try to talk you out of this, because you don't know me well enough to trust that when I say that I will look into this I will. But if you are going to go through with this, realize that one, this will probably add years to your sentence and ineligible for parole. You may even be subjected to solitary as a troublemaker."

"I realize that."

"I want you to allow me to stay, in my partner's place."

"Why?"

"I don't like his odds for staying safe here."

"No one will touch him. I'll even lock him in the cell, if that will make you feel better."

"No, that would be even worse."

"Why? What are you trying not to tell me?"

"Did you hear in the news a few months ago about an officer being kidnapped?"

"Yea. You mean this is the guy who was buried alive? Why tell me that? It shows me how much you want to protect him and that you should work harder to get this going faster."

"With me in here, Nick will get this going quickly enough, because he will feel guilty for leaving me. Do you remember the circumstances for his abduction? That poor boy was buried alive for 12 hours, in a clear plastic box. He's a strong man, and is getting better, but obviously he now has a problem with claustrophobia. I don't want him to have to go through that. He's been through enough."

"I understand where you are coming from, but he stays here. You have my word that he will be under my protection. And before you start to protest again, listen to my reasoning and realize that my mind is made up. If I go through with this trade as you propose, when he gets out, if that cop has any caring bones in his body, he will take Nick to the hospital since he lost consciousness for a few minutes. This will postpone everything and the cops are in charge. I don't want that. One of my friends here is a nurse. She has a real soft spot for victims, as she was one for a long time. All I have to do is let her know who he is, and he will not be touched. A lot of the girls here listen to her, more than me, even. Don't worry, we will do our best to take care of him while he is our guest. But I suggest that you get going, because the faster you leave the faster you can get back and get him out of this situation."

"I want him out of this situation right now."

"I know, but we can't all get what we want. And what we want isn't too much to ask, is it? We just want to be treated fairly and humanely."

"I will be back. If, when I get back, I find that he has been harassed, or hurt in any way, you will have a lot to worry about."

"I have no doubt. Get back soon, because the sooner you do get back the sooner we can all go to sleep at night without having to worry about what might happen when the lights go out."

On her way out, Catherine checked on Nick. He looked to be sleeping peacefully. She had a feeling that he was no longer unconscious, but had shifted to sleep, which the troubled man desperately needed. She nodded to Vega, as two people escorted them out of the cell block.

Catherine made her way directly to the warden's office. She found the woman with several officers strategizing on how to handle this situation. "Warden"

"Ms. Willows, I'm glad you are all right. Your release will make this easier."

"I'm afraid not. I'm about to make your decision a little more difficult. If you can find a simple, peaceful solution, then do it, but they do have my partner in there with them."

"So now it's a hostage situation?"

"Yes, but it's a little more complicated than that. That CSI down there is Nick Stokes." One of the officers in the room must know Nick because he groaned as if knowing what Catherine was going to say next. "Let me just remind you what that man has been through. He is still recovering from being buried alive by some lunatic who used him to make a statement against the police and CSI. It was a random act, meaning that they weren't after him specifically, just someone to use to torture the LVPD and lab. What wasn't in the papers was that the coffin he was buried in was clear, so that he could see the earth around him. He had an oxygen supply, but the fan only worked when the light was off. Whenever any one of his concerned co-workers pushed the button on the web site that this sicko set up, so that we could see that he was still there and moving around, the light would go on and the fan delivering him needed oxygen went off. I won't go into detail about his being covered by bites from all the red ants that got into that box."

Catherine made sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room. "I want to make this clear, we will work to get him free, but I don't want it to be by some assault. In case its not clear, Nick was popular and well liked by everyone before he was kidnapped, and now we are very protective of him. If you do anything to set him back, just know that your life will instantly become more difficult because I will make sure that any incident that happens here will be under my jurisdiction. That's not a threat, just information you need to know."

"What is it that they want, we won't negotiate to release anyone."

"They aren't asking for that, actually. I know what they want, and the woman in charge said that if I told anyone unnecessarily, it might backfire on us. So I will look from our side to see what can be done. I will be back here as quickly as I can, and I am leaving Vega here to make sure I know what's going on here. Vega, I'll be in touch and be back as soon as I can."

"We're really going to leave our boy down there?"

"I'm not happy about it, but I don't see where we have a choice right now."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him and this situation, from here." He said quietly as he walked the senior CSI to the door.

"I know you will. Make sure that woman there keeps her promise to keep him safe, if not this place will be the least of her worries."

Down in cell block A, Jen called out to another woman from the cell block. "Erin, can I see you for a moment?"

"Sure." Erin said as she walked to the cell with the CSI in it. "What is it, Jen?"

"I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"I need you to take care of this guy, and to watch out for him. I need him to stay safe."

"Why? What is this really about? Did that CSI lady threaten you?"

"In a way, but I can handle it and understand it. She's looking out for this guy, she just said that if we cause any more damage to this man than what has already been done, well you see how that goes."

"He is cute…wait, more than what's been done to him? What did she mean by that?"

"He was brought here because it seemed like a rather safe assignment. Do you remember hearing about the CSI who was kidnapped and buried alive a few months ago?"

"Yea, you mean this is that guy? Wow, he must be a strong one to be back on the job this quickly. Why did you keep him, why not one of the others? That poor man has been through enough. I got locked in small closets by my ex, and that was bad enough, but what he was put through? This could really not be good for him."

"I know, but this will make her think twice about letting them just assault the block. And that's why I need you to take care of him. Help him to understand that he will be treated like our guest, and everything that that means."

"Okay, I'll do it."

"You sure you can handle it?"

"Yea, I mean talk about being victimized. His situation makes mine… well I'll do what I can for him. Maybe helping him might help me."

"That's the spirit. His name is Nick. I appreciate you looking out for him. The rest of the girls will listen to you."

"I know. But I am going to need some things for him."

"You're going into nurse mode."

"Yea, but that's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yes. What do you need?"

"Well I'll need some bottled water, the first aid kit, an extra blanket and some of the food that we stock piled. In order for him to not feel trapped and claustrophobic, he will need comforts available at his fingertips. One of the worst things about being trapped like that is that you can't get what you need. He'll need these comforts."

"You'll get what you need. I'll see to that. Now go, he will probably wake up soon." Jen watched as her friend went into the cell to look after their 'guest.' She hated to feel that this was necessary, but didn't feel like they had any other choice.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Catherine left the building at a fast clip, pulled out her cell phone and hit a number on her speed dial. As she waited for the call to be picked up, she quickly debated whether this call was such a good idea. But before she could change her mind, Sara picked up the phone and Catherine made the split second decision to go with her first instinct.

"Sidle."

"Sara, it's Catherine. Is there anyone with you right now?"

"No, I'm alone. What's this about?"

"I need your help, but you can't let anyone know why just yet. I'm asking you because I think that you will be the one that can dig up what I need to see, without anyone else, like the warden of this facility, finding out. You're not on this case, officially."

"So this has to do with the dead woman at the Women's Correctional Facility?" Sara was trying to catch up with Catherine's conversation, which seemed to start somewhere in the middle.

"For the most part. Listen, you'll hear this soon enough, but act slightly surprised when you do. We have a bit of a problem here. The reader's digest version is that before we could finish processing the scene there was a bit of a riot. The inmates currently have control of their cell block, and have kept Nick as a hostage. I have left Vega with the warden to make sure that they don't do anything stupid."

"Oh my…what do they want? You know we can't release anyone, or even reopen one of their case files based on this kind of action."

"I know, but listen, they want an investigation into their treatment there at the facility. Evidently a few of the injuries and suicides that have happened recently aren't what we were told. According to the woman running the show, all we have to do to get Nick is show that we are looking into this. We don't have time for me to go in to this any more."

"Okay, okay. I'll start with any calls that we answered to that facility and follow any paper trail from there. What are you going to do?"

"I am going to try to go through the proper channels first and try to keep them from doing anything that could get Nick hurt."

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I hope so. Call me back as soon as you find out anything, even if it refutes their claims."

"You got it." With that, both women hung up, each praying for the safety, and mental health of their colleague.

Erin sat next to the attractive man sleeping on the lower bunk. She was having mixed feelings about him until a few moments ago. Until then he seemed to be sleeping rather peacefully, and she was doubting how a person who was so obviously athletic could be a victim as she had been told. But now she could see the distress on his face, and could recognize the pain and fear in his mumblings as he fought through a nightmare. She was debating whether to wake him to spare him from this pain, when she saw someone from the corner of her eye.

"What's his story, Erin? I would think that with what you've been through, you wouldn't want to look after him."

"He's different, he understands."

"How do you know? He hasn't woken up yet, has he?"

"No, but I can tell."

"Oh, man. You've got that Florence Nightingale look, the one that says that you can help."

"Who knows, Marcy, maybe I can. From what I can tell, he's been through a lot. But its not my story to tell, so don't ask. But Marcy, I don't want him to have to go through anything else if I can help it."

"I get the message. I'll tell them, but I can't promise anything."

"I know." Erin just hoped that Marcy's word would keep this poor guy from getting harassed by the other girls in the cell block.

As Marcy walked away, Erin turned her attention back to the man next to her. She could see his face contorting in horror in reaction to the dream he was having. It wasn't right to let him stay in that state of fright and so she reached over to Nick and placed her hand on his shoulder to try to wake him as gently as she could.

But as with most nightmares, waking from that state is never peaceful, and Nick was no exception. His eyes flew open, and he gasped for breath like he was worried that he couldn't get enough. Those beautiful brown eyes quickly scanned the room in panic, and stopped when he caught sight of her. Erin decided to wait for him to speak and let him make the first move, otherwise she was afraid to put him on the defensive.

"What happened? Where am I?" He said as he tried to sit up. That decision was quickly discarded as his head objected, as well as gentle hands going to his shoulders to keep him reclined. "Ow, my head."

"Stay there. Shay hit you pretty hard. If you stay still, I'll tell you what I can." She took his silence as consent for her to continue. "Jen and a few other girls decided to use the investigation on Carol's death to get the police to look into the stuff that has been going on around here, stuff that is getting inmates killed. They needed someone to stay behind so they had incentive to work on our case."

"Why me?"

"Well, you weren't exactly awake to give them trouble or to say no."

"Aren't you worried that I…" He thought it wise to leave the rest of the question unasked.

"Not really. The cell block is locked down, and there are no weapons here for you to get a hold of. And besides, we could always lock you in here."

Nick couldn't stop the alarm from showing on his face, but he hid it as quickly as he could. Erin was looking for it, and so did not miss it. It must have been horrible for someone like him to react like this. She decided to follow her own counselor's advice on the importance of communication to help this young man while he was with them.

"Nick? My name is Erin, and I am in here for manslaughter. It was in self defense, and in defense of my two kids, but they felt that I could have found another way, so here I am. I thought that you should know that, but you do not have anything to fear from me. I know who you are, Nick, and what you went through not too long ago. That is why the door to this cell remains open. Know that while you are with us, you will be treated as a guest, and share what food and water we have."

"Why didn't you all just file a complaint about your treatment here?"

"They read all outgoing mail and messages. We found that out after some complaints were sent, and it was bad for the author's health."

"You could have just given a letter to us before we left."

"I can't answer that because I am not running this show."

"Who is? Can I talk to her?"

"Her name is Jen, I have no need for last names. She'll probably stop by later to check on us, but if your lady friend couldn't change her mind, I doubt you will."

Vega was getting more than a little worried about the people in the warden's office. There were two distinct groups, each with their own method of dealing with the inmates here, and both vying for dominance. Up 'til now, he was trying to stay out of it, let them fight it out, but the real hot heads of the group were looking like they were about to leave to pursue their own agenda with or without orders or consensus.

He had to get their attention. "Hey! We need to calm down here. I realize that this is your turf…"

A statement that was answered by a chorus of "that's right."

Vega went on as if he had not heard them. "…but that man down there with them is LVPD. Know this, if any action you take, without the consent of my department, puts him at risk in any way – physical or otherwise – there will be hell to pay. That's not a threat, that's a warning."

One of the hot heads spoke up to ask, "What do you want us to do, take up knitting?"

"What you do on your own time, is your business. What I expect during this situation, is that we follow protocol, and try to take care of this as peaceful as possible. And no vigilantes. Got it?"

That same guard turned to the warden, "Who's in charge here anyway, ma'am?" No one could miss the derision dripping from his words, as well as the challenge.

The Warden gave the outspoken man a look that could freeze water. "I am, but we will be working with the LVPD just like I would expect them to work with us if our situations were reversed. Got it? If you don't like it, Cargile, I can take your resignation right here and now."

"Thank you, Warden Kessler. Knowing Catherine Willows, we should be hearing from someone very soon." Vega was comforted by the fact that she was going to let calmer heads prevail.

"Until then, Det. Vega, we will deploy officers around cell block A to make sure things don't get any worse. Henry, Morgan, Dimosi, and Manning I want you four to go down to these four points around A and keep your cool. No action unless you hear from me, or are in mortal danger. Go."

Vega was thankful to see that the four chosen officers did not come from the group of hot heads. But this didn't stop him from silently pushing for Catherine to hurry up and contact them with the next move.

Catherine picked up her cell phone again and dialed Grissom. Fortunately he answered on the first ring. "Grissom."

"Gil, I need you to relay the following information to Ecklie. We have a hostage situation at the Correctional facility, they have Nick."

"WHAT! How did that happen?"

"Short version – they claim that a few of the deaths and injuries that have happened there lately are not the accidents that they were reported to be. They want us to look into it. When this Carol died, they planned this little coup to get help. They also claim that their previous attempts to get someone's attention to what is going on there have been intercepted. Nick is alright for now, I have their promise that they will do their part in keeping this violence free."

"Can we trust that?" Grissom could hear her concern in her voice if not her words.

"My gut tells me we can, but everything else has me worried."

"Okay, I'll tell Ecklie and the Sheriff. What are you going to do?"

"I've enlisted Sara to help look into their claims under the radar. She's following the paper trail. I'm going to talk to Brass to see if we can get this situation cleared some other way. I want Nick out of there ASAP."

"We all do, Catherine. I'll call you as soon as I can, and get a few more people, like Archie, to help Sara. Nick is strong, he'll be fine."

"Nick is in a small cell, under guard without his friends there to support him, he is _not_ fine."

"He knows that we are doing what we can for him out here. I'll call you when I'm done here and know more." He was slightly taken aback to hear nothing but the dial tone as his answer. 'I guess she didn't really like that answer.'

To be continued...

A/N - Thank you so much for the reviews and constructive criticism. It istruely appreciated. I will try to post as often as I can, but I don't have the story finished yet so I am trying to post as quickly as I get it written. Besides, sometimes its hard to write a story when there are so many good ones here to read. :-)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Nick was being rather pensive at the moment, sitting on the cot with his back against the wall. 'Why is it always me? Murphy's law, I guess. That Murphy must really like messing with me.' He knew that his friends were doing everything within their power to get this situation settled and him out of here. As he thought of his friends, one person's reaction just came to him out of the blue, and made him smile. Greg Sanders would think that he was in heaven, the only man surrounded by at least 20 women. But Nick didn't think it was so wonderful because some of these women were darn heated about being in this facility, not even taking the current situation into consideration, and that might not be good for him.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"If you have any apples and some water, I would appreciate it."

"Sure, I happen to have both right here." She said as she handed him a Granny Smith apple and a bottle of water.

"Thanks, Erin."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Are you in counseling for what happened to you, with the coffin and all?"

"Yes. Are you?" Trying to turn the question back on to here and away from something he really didn't want to talk about.

"Yes. It really helps a lot, doesn't it?"

"Sometimes."

"Why just sometimes? Why not all the time?"

"Well you only have control over yourself in most situations, and sometimes my co-workers get a little too much into the mother hen thing."

"I can understand that must be frustrating."

"Can be, I just have to work through it."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Sorry."

"Don't be, I understand." And he could see that she did, in some fashion. It was there, written on her face.

"I was thinking, maybe I can help my friends and yours while I'm here. Do you think that Jen and a couple of the other ladies would be willing to talk to me about what is going on around here?"

She smiled at him. "I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to ask."

"I just need to be doing something. Just waiting here, in this cell is…"

"I know. Let me check with Jen."

Gil Grissom decided that for news like this, it should be delivered in person, so he walked down the hall to Ecklie's office, knocked on the door, and waited for a response from the person at the desk to notice him.

Ecklie looked up from his report and waved Gil in. "What can I do for you, Gil?"

"We have a situation at the women's correctional facility."

"What kind of situation? Who did you send on that?"

"I sent Catherine and Nick. Det. Vega went with them."

"Did they find something unusual?"

"You could say that. Evidently the inmates pulled a coup, and took a hostage."

"Was it one of ours?"

He nodded. "Nick Stokes."

"Of course. What are you doing about this right now?"

"Well the inmates gave Catherine their demand, which was to look into their complaints on their care at the facility. They say that some of the recent deaths there are more than they seem. We're having someone look into that. Vega is in with the Warden and her staff to keep in the loop for what their plans are. I assume that he will call the Sheriff soon enough to get his input since Nick is involved."

"I hate to give in to any demands made by someone holding a hostage, but if we look at this as an official complaint then we should look into this. Whatever you need, let me know. Within reason, of course. I'll notify the Sheriff from our end."

"Thanks, Conrad. I'm going to go check in with my team to see if they have anything so far." He left the office to go check with Sara on the case reviews. He found Catherine in with her reviewing what looked to be about 7 different case files.

"What have you found so far?"

Catherine spoke up, and from the tone of voice being used, it wasn't good. "Well, first of all, I am so glad that Ecklie fired Ted Smart, because he certainly didn't live up to his name. How could he miss that this woman, Karen Huddleson, did not hang herself? The knot is backwards for a person who is right handed. She didn't do that herself. Idiot!"

Sara broke in, as a voice of reason for the moment. "From what we've seen so far, these four here look to be just what they are, at least we can't see anything right now to refute the findings, or justify looking further into them. However, these three, including the one that Catherine just mentioned, look a little suspicious."

"Okay. Well, do what you can with those. Farm them out, and share the wealth if you need to. Ecklie said if we need anything, to just ask." Sara nodded in response, but Catherine seemed to be ignoring him for the moment. He was about to repeat himself when she spoke up, although he wasn't sure if she was addressing them, or if she was just talking to herself out loud.

"Why is it always him? He's been through enough in his life." Then she lifted her head to address the other occupants of the room. "We have to get him out of there."

"We will, Catherine. He's strong, he'll be fine."

"You can't be sure of that. Surrounded by all these women - this might bring out more unpleasant memories, when he has enough to deal with right now."

"Why would this bring out something unpleasant…"

She cut him off, realizing that she had said too much. "I'm going to call Vega to see if there is anything new from his side." Grissom just stepped out of her way as she passed him at a full speed ahead. He thought that he should check with her about this later.

"Grissom, what was that about?"

"I don't know, Sara. Let me know if you need help, or if you find anything that we can move ahead with. I think that we need to get this resolved as soon as we can."

"You got it."

"Let me have one of the three you mentioned, I'll be a second set of eyes on those." And with that file in hand, he went to one of the open labs to spread out what evidence they had so he could get the full picture.

Erin walked up to Jen at the end of the corridor and caught her attention right away. She stepped away from the group of women she was speaking with to talk to Erin. "How's our guest doing?"

"He's okay. I'm a little worried about him here, because I think that he understands my situation from more than just an investigator's perspective."

"He told you that, or what?"

"No, it's just a feeling I have. But he's going a little stir crazy…"

"That can't be helped, Erin."

"I know, but he wants to help himself by helping us. If you, or any of the others, are willing to go talk to him, he wants to hear your side of things."

"I'll go talk to him. I'll mention this to the others as well. I think that Livvy and Dawn might be willing to talk to him. Smart guy." She looked up to see one of the others standing with her back against the bars of the cell across from the one where Nick was. Rene was one that needed watching. "Why don't you go back to Nick's cell, and keep him company. I'll be there in a minute."

Catherine was relieved that she didn't have to wait too long for Vega to pick up the phone.

"Detective Vega."

"Sam, it's Catherine. How are things there?"

"Under control for now."

"For now?"

"Well a couple of the officers here are a bit hot headed, but thankfully the Warden isn't one of those. She has a couple of the others around the block to keep an eye on things."

"Good. How's Nick?"

"He's okay as far as I know."

"Can you see if you can go check on him? That woman Jen, seemed to be pretty reasonable, and may be willing to let you talk to him."

"Okay, I'll give you a call no matter what happens."

"Thanks, Sam."

"Don't worry, I'm trying to keep an eye on our guy."

"I know. Keep in touch."

Vega hung up and walked up to the Warden to get her attention. "Ms. Kessler, I would like to go down to the cell block to see if they will allow me to check on Stokes. He was unconscious the last time I saw him."

"All right. Go see Domosi, he's at the door closest to where they seem to be hanging out. It would be the best place to get their attention. And they will be able to see your approach, so you won't look to be trying to sneak up on them."

"Thanks, I'll come back and report to you once I've seen him."

"I would appreciate that, Det. Vega. By the way, I just got off the phone a moment ago with the Sheriff. He seems to trust you to handle the situation for the LVPD in his stead. He said to call him if you need anything, but to work with me."

"Of course. Be right back."

"So I hear you want to talk to me about the case."

"Jen, right?" Nick said as he looked at the tall brunette that just entered his cell.

"Good guess." Jen could see why Erin had connected with this CSI as quickly as she did. This attractive young man just exuded empathy.

"Well, I figured that if you are the one that made the demand to look into the recent deaths here, that you would be the one most willing to talk to me about it. You're head is already on the block, so to speak."

"Good deduction, Sherlock. Where do we start?"

"Why don't you tell me why you believe that there is a cover up going on around here?"

Jen took a seat on the other end of the cot from Nick. "First of all, there's no way that Janelle would O.D. She just would not do recreational drugs, it would mess up her medication for chemotherapy. I got a feeling that she was pressured into something, but she was being so secretive. But I had nothing tangible, nothing but my gut reaction. And then the investigation never went anywhere. But when I heard that Karen hung herself, I knew that something was so wrong. She had just gotten her splint off the week before, and there is no way that she could have hung herself like they said she did. She didn't have the strength to do it."

Nick just sat there quietly with the paper and pen that Erin had given him for taking notes. She was impressed that he could just go back to doing his job while he was a hostage. He must be a very dedicated investigator. Erin could see that even Jen was reacting to that expression on his face inviting her to open up to him. It was too bad she had met someone like Rick first, and not someone like him. She shook her head to clear it of thoughts like these. It did no good to dwell on what ifs, they only brought more heartache. She had done the crime for which she was convicted, and she was willing to do the time for it because her kids were safe. She looked up at the cell door when she heard someone's footsteps fast approaching.

"Jen, that cop that was with him," she indicated Nick "is back asking to talk to you."

"Tell him that I'll be right there." Jen turned her attention back to Nick. "I'll be right back." Nick just nodded and leaned up against the wall.

As she approached the bars at the end of the block, Jen addressed the officer waiting there. "What can I do for you, officer?"

"Detective Vega. I was hoping to check on my friend, to make sure he was okay."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Well, the last time I saw him he was unconscious. Can I talk to him?"

"Sure." She turned back down the hall. "Callie, go ask our guest to join me here."

The petite woman wandered down the cell block to bring the CSI guy to talk to his friend. "Hey Erin, Jen asked me to bring this guy to talk to his cop friend."

"Okay. I'll come too."

"Whatever." She didn't even wait for Erin's reply, but turned to walk back to her post near that end of the block.

"Ready, Nick?"

"Yea." He slowly rose and left the cell with his notebook so that he could let Vega know what he'd found out so far.

As Nick and his escort approached the door, Sam could tell that his friend seemed to be holding up pretty well. That alone brought his nerves down to a tolerable level. He nodded to Nick as he reached the door. "How are you?"

"Right as rain, Sam. I have a bit of a head ache but nothing too serious. How are you doing?"

"Getting a little worried about a few of the hot heads on the Warden's staff, but everything seems to be under control from this end."

"Hey, since I'm here on the inside I thought I'd do my part for the investigation." Sam noted that Nick didn't bother to keep his voice down, and so knew that his friend was making sure that at least someone knew what they were talking about. That should keep anyone from worrying about letting them talk to each other. "Here are my notes from one woman I've talked to so far." Nick looked to see that the guard was a little out of earshot and so went on. "She seems to think that one of the guards was involved – some guy named Cargile. So you might want to have Catherine look into him."

"Sure thing. Is there anything that I can get you?"

"You mean besides a get out of jail free card? No, I'm okay for now."

"You seem a little nervous."

"Wouldn't you be? Besides, being the only guy here, I feel a little like a piece of meat, so if you can hurry it all up, I would appreciate it."

"I'll do what I can. I'll be back."

Nick just watched the officer pull out his cell phone as he walked away down the hall. He turned to the young woman who seemed like his shadow for the moment, and spoke softly to her. "Can we go back? All this attention is making me uncomfortable."

"Oh, come on. Someone who looks like you should be used to the attention, and would like it." How had Jen missed Rene coming up behind her? She was now determined to try to find Rene something else to do, preferably away from the investigator.

"Not really, besides here I have no place to go to get out of the spot light."

Erin spoke up to try to get him out of the conversation with who she quietly refered to as 'that wicked woman.' "Give him a break, Rene. He's trying to help us. Come on Nick, let's go back to the room." She and Jen were both aware of the wolf like expression that followed Erin and Nick back down the hall.

On the phone at the other end of the hall, Detective Vega connected to Catherine's cell. "Willows."

"Catherine, Sam. I just talked to Nick, and he's okay. He's talking to a few of the women about their complaint and he has a name for you to look into. His last name is Cargile, he's one of the guards here."

"Yea, he's mentioned as being interviewed on a few of these charts. The guards aren't assigned to any specific block all the time, are they?"

"Only the ones who work with the more dangerous types in solitary. Otherwise they all rotate. Why?"

"Well, I think it's a little suspicious that for someone who rotates around, he seems to know an awful lot about what happened with each of these deaths. Thanks, Sam."

"I'm going to go check in with the Warden again, I'll talk to you later."

To be continued –

A/N – Sorry it took so long to update, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. I should be able to update again soon. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the first two chapters, your encouragement and comments are gratifying. I thank you sincerely. Without them, I'm not sure I'd have the courage to keep writing. Thanks again!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After talking to several of the inmates here, Nick sat quietly in the cell waiting for Erin to return. She had left the cell to clean up, she said. He was happy to have a little time to himself, due to the fact that she had been his shadow since he woke up hours ago. He was a social, and extroverted person, but people have their limits. Especially since 'the incident,' which is when he felt his life had turned into a kind of fish bowl. He _expected_ his family to contact him more often, he even expected the additional pressure from his family to move back to Texas, and change careers. He could deal with that, what he was having a hard time dealing with was his co-workers treating him like he was the little brother.

The graveyard shift watched him for cracks, like he would break apart any minute. Any emotional outbreak had to be due to 'the incident.' And then there were the other lab techs, who seemed to be listening to the radio and scanners a lot closer. At least they seemed to be listening out for everyone and not just him.

What was worse, was the kind of celebrity that he seemed to have picked up at the time. It wasn't so much the officers of the LVPD who acted like they knew him personally, even if they had never met. He knew that many of them had worked with the lab to help find him, and therefore knew a lot about him. How could you do that and not feel some sort of connection with that person?

What was awkward was the number of people in the neighborhood and streets who came up to him like he was a television star. Some had taken pictures, a few kids had even asked for his autograph. He didn't know what to do, so he declined politely and sited the shake in his hands as an excuse. The Community relations office, at the time, had even asked him to agree to make some appearances. Luckily the grave yard shift, as well as Ecklie, had balked at the suggestion. They took the hint, but he did make a concession of giving a statement of thanks to his fellow officers and everyone in the lab, who had worked tirelessly to find him.

Just as it felt like things were calming down, and giving him a chance to breathe and feel like things were at least getting back to normal, and this had to happen. He had just lost so much ground due to his bad luck. Murphy's Law. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and due to his recent past, he became the perfect hostage for these women. The Texan knew and had gleaned from things that he had heard, that Jen used Catherine's motherly instincts towards him against her and that didn't sit well with him at all.

Suddenly Nick's thoughts were interrupted and he felt like he was no longer alone. He looked up, expecting to see Erin returning. But he didn't recognize the woman in front of him. The good old 'southern charm' that had been instilled in him since childhood, abandoned him due to necessity. If he asked, as he normally would, if he could help the person, he was afraid of what the woman would say. So he went with the business aspect of the day. "Are you here to talk about what's been going on around here?"

"No. I just wanted to stop by and say hello to you, pretty boy."

"Okay." He really hoped that his shadow returned soon, this woman was looking like she hadn't eaten in a while and he was now on the menu. "If you're looking for Erin, she should be back shortly."

The grey haired woman just started slinking into the cell. She watched as his eyes darted from her to around the cell. Those beautiful brown eyes. "What's the matter, pretty boy, you look a little nervous?"

He didn't know how to answer, so he thought it would be wiser to just stay quiet. He watched as she just kept moving closer to him with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Nick Stokes would not usually worry about receiving attention from a woman. He had learned long ago how to leave a situation like that. This was different. Here he was a hostage, a prisoner. How would these women react if he defended himself? Luckily for him, he didn't have to find out.

As the woman reached for him, they both heard Jen from the door way. "Rene, get out of there now!" When Rene didn't move, the voice got quieter, colder, and more dangerous. "Don't make me tell you again, Rene. If you even touch that boy, your life as you know it will be forfeit. Do you understand me?"

Rene seemed to pause and look into his eyes. Nick never took his eyes off of her. But she quickly straightened up and responded to the threat issued to her by her fellow inmate. "I was just looking for a little fun. What's wrong with that?"

"Are you that stupid? The only reason they have not taken any action against us here is because of him. We are fine because we are treating him well and keeping calm. If you mess that up in any way, it could mean that someone could get hurt."

"Why do you care? I know what you were put in here for."

"Well some of us are sorry for what we did, and besides, I don't care what happens to a maggot like you, but what would happen to Erin, or Chiqui, if the Warden took strong action. They shouldn't be here, and I won't let you screw up what we are trying to accomplish here. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good. Now get out of there now."

After Rene had left she turned to Nick and asked, "You okay, Texas?"

"Yea, fine. Thanks for that. I wasn't sure what would happen…"

"Yea well, don't worry about it, it shouldn't have happened. Molly was supposed to be watching Rene. Erin should be back in a minute. I'll stay until she gets back."

"I assume that when you hear from Catherine, that you will let me know."

"You got it. Try not to worry, Tex, I really have no intention of hurting you if it can be helped."

"You know that eventually someone is going to get hurt. These things never resolve themselves peacefully."

"Well lets just hope this is one of those few times that they are."

"If Cargile is as dangerous as you seem to think that he is, and he finds out that he's been compromised, he could take some serious action against us, and if you're not careful, it will look justified. And if that happens, he'll get a metal and have more power to do what he wishes."

"I know, we're keeping it relaxed."

"Is everyone?"

"You let me worry about that." She caught a familiar form approaching the cell. "Erin's here, so I'll see you later."

Nick just sighed and lay down on the bed to try and catch some sleep. He really needed to try to get rid of this head ache.

Lukas Cargile picked up the radio to check in with the guards near cell block A. "hey, Domosi, everything okay down there?"

"Yea, the block is pretty quiet right now. It is almost more quiet than it normally is."

"What are they doing?"

"Not a whole lot right now. That detective, Vega, was allowed to talk to Stokes. They talked for a few minutes, and now Stokes is back to wherever they have him held up."

"What did they talk about?"

"I don't really know, I wasn't really close enough to pick up much. I guess that Stokes was telling him what he and some of the ladies have been talking about."

Cargile picked up on that statement quickly and broke in. "Who's he been talking to?"

"I haven't really been keeping track, Lukas. Who cares? Whatever he's doing, he's keeping the situation pretty calm from in there."

That had him worried. "Okay, well keep us informed up here and call if you need anything."

"You got it. Domosi out."

Lukas Cargile looked around and caught the attention of his fellow officer, Kanney, and directed him to the corner. "We may have a little trouble. That CSI guy was talking to some of the girls and passed some info on to Vega."

"What'd they tell him?"

"Don't know, Domosi didn't care enough to listen in."

"That's not good, Luke."

"No, really? I'm heading to the locker. Give me a minute or so and then follow me down there."

"What are we going to do?"

"You leave that to me. If we do this right, we may get a slap on the wrist or even fired, but it'll be better than jail time."

"I don't like it, but I guess we have no choice."

With that, both men split up and Lukas Cargile left the room telling the room that he was going to the bath room. A few moments later Kanney followed him out quietly.

Catherine had just left the conference room to make her call with their findings to Detective Vega. The rest of the team were spreading out to put a rush on gathering enough of the evidence to look further into what looked like his illegal activities on the part of at least one of the guards, so that they could get a warrant.

Catherine was glad to see that Grissom had taken the initiative to meet with the Sheriff. She was afraid that he would ask her to do it, but he hadn't. Grissom must have realized that she did not want to let this one go in order to play politics, not when this was the second time that something had happened to Nick while under her command. So now Grissom was upstairs with the Sheriff and Ecklie trying to coordinate with the women's correctional facility on how they could settle this situation without any violence.

Elsewhere Sara had recruited Greg to help her make the paperwork match the evidence that they currently had. It had to sing so that any judge could see it clear as day. Warrick had gone down to see Dr. Roberts to work with him about the questionable deaths to see if any could be seen as accidental, or if someone had missed the signs of murder there also. It was all coming together, but if they didn't handle things right, it could blow up in their faces. But the first step was waiting for the warrant which the Sheriff and Grissom had both gone to get.

"Detective Vega."

"Sam, it's Catherine. I've got news, and it has to be handled carefully."

"Does it have anything to do with that name I gave you earlier?"

"Yes, it looks like Cargile was involved in each one of these cases in some way. A few we can't prove as anything but what they are for right now. But in each case, Cargile's statement is included. I wouldn't usually think that was anything to be concerned about, except when you take into consideration what you told me earlier."

"Do we have enough right now to detain him?"

"Maybe, but we're double checking everything so we can also take it to the inmates in cell block A. Just keep your eye out for him right now."

After he had hung up the phone with Catherine, Vega entered the conference room where everyone, except those on guard duty by block A, was supposed to be gathered. But the occupants of the room were light by a few, and the worrisome Cargile was among the missing. "Ms. Kessler, where is Cargile?"

"Bathroom."

"I didn't see him in the hall, how long ago did he leave?"

"Not sure, a few minutes maybe? What's the problem? Why are you worried about where my officer might be?"

"Well, it looks like you have a bad apple in your ranks, and he may be trying to cover his tracks. Is anyone else missing?"

"Yes, Kanney. Go check the bathroom. If they are not there, then we'll just have to find them."

A/N - Its been a busy week, and will be a busier holiday. This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I wanted to get something posted because I don't know when I will have the next oportunity to work on this will be. It won't be too long, and I certainly won't forget it. However, I got engaged this past weekend, and this holiday weekend will be filed with making plans and things of that nature. I hope you like this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yea, I did. And he said to leave it alone."

"Lukas, if someone finds out we're involved…"

"They won't. We're going to have to take care of this ourselves. This isn't important to them because they can just write us off and wipe their hands of us. Well this is our livelihood; we have to shut them up."

"And just how are we going to do that, Cargile? That CSI isn't someone we can scare or neatly take care of."

"Relax, Kanney, this is a dangerous situation here. I mean this is a prison riot. We just have to take care of him and the ring leader and make it look like we were doing our jobs to quell this dangerous situation. Once we do that, the other girls will keep quiet."

"Well that's easier said than done."

"Come on. I have an idea. We won't come out of this clean, but we'll at least stay out of jail."

"Warden, I can't find either Cargile or Kanney."

"Thank you, Douglas. Hold on here for a second. Well Detective Vega, it looks like we have an unofficial confirmation of your suspicions." She turned back to officer Douglas. "Craig, take this key and check Cargile's locker. If you find anything suspicious call me on my cell." He nodded and quickly left the office.

In the meantime, Sam picked up his cell phone and called Catherine. "Catherine, how's that warrant coming?"

"We're just waiting for the paper to arrive."

"You may want to hurry. Cargile and another officer, Kanney, are MIA right now. The warden is having Cargile's locker checked, but I think we're about to go look for them." He was glad to see that the warden was listening and nodded in confirmation to his statement.

"We're on our way. Keep Nicky safe, Sam. He doesn't need this."

"I know, and we will. I'll let you know as soon as we know more."

"See you in a few."

Both clicked off, and Sam turned back to the warden and one of the other officers with her. "What do you want to do? Technically this could fall under either jurisdiction, depending on how you look at it."

"We'll work together as its one case, as we have so far. Lets get going. If I were Cargile, I would either try to get the heck out of Dodge, or make it look like a miscommunication of something we might plan to get the situation resolved."

"Good thinking. They'll probably try to pull some form of smoke screen to cover their actions."

"Follow me, Vega. We'll pick up Dimosi and someone else along the way." At Vega's questioning look she continued. "Dimosi is currently stationed closest to the weapons lockup. That's the only place we keep the gas canisters."

The two of them quickly left the office and ran down the hall to the stair to the lower floor. Sam couldn't help but say a prayer that they would get to Cargile and his partner in time to stop this before it escalated.

Catherine almost bumped into Grissom as he was coming out of Ecklie's office. She saw her deepest wish for the moment, in his hands. "Please tell me that's the warrant."

"It is, and thanks to everyone involved its almost a blanket warrant for his home, locker, and car. The judge even gave us instructions to call as soon as we have anything to support an arrest warrant, and he'll have it ready to go."

"Oh, that's great news."

"Why don't you look all that happy with the news?" Neither supervisor had noticed the rest of the team join them in the hall. "This is good, right? This will get Nick his get out of jail free card, right?"

"Yes, Greg, it should. But I just heard from Sam, and it look like Lukas Cargile and an officer Kanney have gone missing. We need to get them back up now."

Ecklie joined the conversation at this point coming around his desk to join the CSIs. "I just got off the phone with the Sheriff to let him know that we have the warrant. He has authorized the use of the helicopter to get a few extra officers there, and he is putting in a call to get some other backup from closer to the facility. You may want to contact the Warden to let her know."

"Thanks, Conrad, I'll call Vega and either have him pass it on, or have him put her on the phone if she's with him." She turned to the younger CSIs. "I want you three to take some officers with you to serve this warrant to his home, and look around to see what you can find."

It was obvious that this did not make Warrick happy. "Do you really need three CSIs at this scene? I can help you all out."

Grissom spoke up to answer the question, as well as show support for Catherine's decision. "We need you all there to get this done right, and to cover each other should this guy have just done a runner to his house. We don't need anyone else getting hurt because of this guy."

Warrick just nodded his agreement, but the last sentence rang some warning bells for Sara. "What do you mean anyone else? Has Nick been hurt?"

Before the other two could chime in Catherine spoke up to belay their current fears. "No, I just talked to Sam, and he says that Nick is fine for the time being. He even says that Nick is working the case from his side of things." This brought a small smile to their faces. "But with that said, it looks like Cargile is going to make some sort of move sometime soon. And any way this goes, Nick will be in the middle of it." She watched her team with pride as the younger CSIs did not require additional information at this time, but simply turned and quickly make their way down the hall to get what they needed to serve this warrant. The two supervisors turned to each other and then to Ecklie.

"Are you coming Conrad?" Grissom asked this question as nicely as he could. If he thought about it he may have been surprised to notice that recently the office atmosphere had warmed a bit including the air between the bug expert and the Assistant Director.

"Yes. It will be the three of us plus two officers who will meet us at the helicopter."

Three determined CSIs walked down the hall to do what they had to do to get their man Nick out of his current captivity.

"Nick. Are you awake?"

"I am now. What is it Erin?"

"Jen wants to talk to you about something. But I think she's worried about something."

"Okay. Lead on."

It seemed kind of silly, but he was still happy to have this woman as an escort. He felt like a new piece of meat at the market. As they approached Jen pulled him slightly away from the others. "Nick, I'm a little worried. Kelly over there just said that she spotted Cargile down the corridor a little bit ago going down the hall to where they keep the weapons lock up. What is your take on what this could mean?"

Why Nick was thinking of truly helping these women he wasn't completely sure of. Most would not assist their captors in such a manor, but with what they were asking, and how well most of them were treating him, he felt like he should help at least a little bit. "Well right off the top of my head I would say it could be one of two reasons. One, the warden may have thought its been long enough and that her officers should at least be ready. The other option is that Cargile may have gotten nervous and is looking to take out the players who could prove to be the biggest worry to him."

"That would be me, and one or two of the other girls, right?"

"Yes, and me. I am a big threat to him right now, even if he doesn't know that I've been talking to anyone."

"Why is that? We wouldn't let anyone know that we've talked to you."

"Well, he won't want take that chance, I mean I am an officer of the court, and if you have passed any information on to me, then I am a witness that he wouldn't be able scare off or quickly discredit."

"Sorry about that, but we didn't know what else to do."

"Well you can only deal with the present right now."

"What would you recommend for the present? I think its option two and that jerk is up to something."

"Do you know if they keep any gas canisters in that lock up?"

"Yes they do."

"Well then I would suggest that you quietly tell at least some of these women to get some sort of cloth and wet it so that if they do set off gas canisters, the effect on them won't be as bad."

"Okay, and I'll have the girls up front know to have something with them. You may want to go back to the cell should something happen. Erin, take him back please. Thanks, Nick. You didn't have to help like this, it is appreciated."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You all have more to worry about than what I do and don't do." With that said he quickly turned to start walking back down the cell block. Unfortunately they didn't get there before he heard some commotion from behind them.

"Its just down this corridor." The warden was interrupted by someone coming over her radio.

"Warden, this is Domosi. Have you authorized any movement?"

"No. If the people in the block haven't made a move against you, make no act of aggression. Is everything still quiet there?" She had a bad feeling which was confirmed a moment later.

"The ladies are quiet enough, though they seem to be gearing up for something. But I just saw Cargile head towards the lockers."

"Domosi, if he starts to make a move you have my permission to detain him in any way you see fit. I want no one making any move on their own, we can resolve this peacefully." She didn't want to say anything over the radio that might let Cargile know that they suspected him. They could not afford to make him any more nervous than he already may be. "Keep me posted."

"Yes ma'am."

"I think we have our answer as for Cargile's guilt on this matter."

"Unfortunately, I think you're right. But that makes this more dangerous for us and especially for your CSI with the women in the block. He becomes Cargile's biggest threat, aside from the witnesses in the block. Lets pick up the pace, shall we?" Almost simultaneously the two took off at a run, with the other officers taking off after them.

The noise from down the hall reached their ears, but what caught them off guard was the door to the stairwell that opened suddenly behind them. Vega noticed that he wasn't the only one who turned with their weapon drawn, only to put it down a moment later as recognition dawned on him. Behind the officers in the doorway he could see and hear Catherine and Grissom asking why they stopped.

"Put down your weapons." He told the officers with him. "I believe backup has arrived. Follow us, we think that something may be ready to happen at any moment." Everyone fell in step with each other, keeping their weapons at the ready as they all moved down the hall at top speed.

"Cargile! What are you doing?"

"Shut up, or help us, Domosi. We're getting this situation taken care of now. We shouldn't' have been so easy on them anyway."

"We do not have authorization to do anything without provocation."

Cargile just walked up to his fellow officer and got in his face to say "What, are you going to stop me?"

"Don't make me do that, Luke."

"All right." And with that he quickly brought his service weapon up and knocked Domosi out.

"Did you have to do that?"

"Shut up and lets get going, Kanney." The two men reached the gate to Cell block A. They had put their masks on, and so proceeded up to the bars of the gate and set one of the canisters off. As the women backed off from the gate, they threw the other two canisters in the block.

Nick's heart sunk into his stomach as he pushed Erin down the hall to the open cell that they had been occupying. "Erin, grab some cloths, two if you can find them, and douse them with water. Now!" He was glad to see that she just followed his directions without asking questions. He turned back to look down the cell block to see two officers in masks throw something through the gate. The smoke was quickly expelled from the canisters and spread throughout the space. The smell and effects had even started to reach him. Nick quickly looked around to see the women quickly reaching for t-shirts or pillows to wet them down and hold them over their faces and they ducked under the beds.

"Here."

"Thanks, you'd better get down, too." Cough. "It looks like someone is trying to get through the gate." Erin pushed his hand up to bring the wet t-shirt that she had just given him, up to his face. He simply nodded and got into the cell with her. Once inside he tried to stay low and next to the bars to try to keep an eye on what was going on. It was getting difficult because his eyes were really starting to water. He tried to tune his ears to hear what he could.

"Jen, where are you? Get out here, we need to get this situation taken care of and your hostage set free."

"Cargile, you're not here to do any of that, and we all know that don't we."

The officers used the voice to find her. As one of them lifted his gun to take aim on the woman, Nick couldn't just sit still and watch it happen. "Don't shoot, she has no weapon." He yelled, only to find the officer, who he assumed to be Cargile, turn around to where his voice came from. Just after Nick had pushed Erin to the floor, a shot rang out and hit the wall behind the two occupants of the cell.

Jen must have tried to help them, because Nick heard another shot, and then more voices down the hall. His prayers were answered as he recognized a few of those voices. It sounded like chaos. "Police! Put the weapon down!" "Give it up, Cargile." "Weapons down." "Get the fan on to clear this smoke!"

Nick brought his face out of the wet t-shirt when Erin tapped his leg. They both watched with thanksgiving, as one of the officers in front of them immediately placed his gun on the floor, and got down to his knees. Thankfully, he was quickly followed by his partner.

When the noise reached a tolerable level, he heard Catherine calling his name from down the hall. "Nick! Nick are you alright? Answer me!"

"I'm okay." Cough. "But I'd check on Jen across the way from me. I heard…" Cough "…a shot a moment ago."

"I'm alive." Cough

"Are you injured, Jen?" Cough

"Not too badly." Cough

Catherine just shook her head at her co-workers. 'Leave it to Nick to make connections even in this situation. And to be worried about others over himself.' "We're coming. The air in here should improve soon."

"Get someone from the infirmary in here now!" Called out the warden.

Catherine, Grissom and Vega made their way down the hall to find Nick sitting on the floor wiping his eyes. He looked up at his friends and gave them a small smile. "Does this mean I can go home now?"

"Yes, Nick, its time to go." Sam was just happy to see the CSI unharmed as far as he could see. He turned to see smiling concerned faces on the other CSIs.

Nick looked around his friends to see a nurse arrive to tend to Jen, and several officers take the now unmasked Cargile and Kanney into custody. He turned back to his friends and smiled. This situation wasn't as bad as it could have been, but he was certainly glad that it was over. But there were some things he had to do before he left, and so turned to Erin. "Thank you for your help in here. I appreciate it. If they'll let me, I'll put in a good word for you at your next parole hearing and with the Warden."

"Wow. Thanks, I'd be forever grateful. But please don't forget your notes here." She handed him the notes he had taken while talking to some of the inmates. "But I think that things are already going to get better." With that she left the cell for that of her own.

The other CSIs watched him look around the cell and get a confused expression on his face. Grissom spoke up. "I have your kit, Nick. Lets get you out of here and checked out with the EMTs that are waiting outside."

Nick just nodded and followed. Leaving the chaos of cell block A behind him.

The next day the team had gathered in the break room a few minutes before the start of shift. They were just waiting on the guest of honor with big grins on their faces, two pizza boxes and a wrapped gift in front of them. All heads turned when the door opened.

"What is this?"

"It's a jail break party, and you are the guest of honor, Nicky." Said Greg with glee.

"Okay, I wouldn't say not to free food." He looked at the wrapped box, and then back at the others gathered around the table. Greg had a huge grin on his face. Sarah, Catherine and Warrick just looked back at him expectantly, looking like cats that ate the cannary. Even Grissom looked entertained by whatever they had cooked up. This should be good. "What's with the gift? Its not my birthday."

"Its for you anyway, Nicky. Why don't you come here and sit down at the head of the table."

Nick rolled his eyes and followed Catherine's directions. As soon as his butt hit the chair, the colorful gift was pushed into his hands. 'Yes, they have a gag cooked up for me.' He had an idea to just draw it out a little bit. "Thank you. I'll open this when I get home. We have some cases, don't we Grissom?"

"Not yet. You have time to open that and have some food."

"Oh, quit stalling, man, and open the gift." Warrick smiled at him as he indicated the box in Nick's hands.

Nick gave up on drawing this out and started unwrapping the box. When he opened the lid to the box he pulled out the contents and placed them on the table with a look of disbelief at first, and then the expression turned to a mischievous smile. "An ankle bracelet with GPS and an emergency alert necklace." As his friends started to giggle and look at him expectantly; he sent them into fits of all out laughter when he just simply shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to put the items on. It was getting hard to hide his own smile.

"What are you laughing at? With my luck lately, this is a good idea." A few laughs turned into slightly self conscious giggles, until Nick let loose with one of his famous all out smiles showing his good humor. The laughter in the room then reached new heights. "Besides, somehow my family found out about this. And this is certainly better than some of the suggestions I've gotten from them. Two of my sisters are sending me a GPS watch, which is cool. But my brother Mike, the surgeon, wants to implant a sub dermal GPS locator. Not too excited about that."

He gave a pause to let them react to that before he went on. "Seriously, thou, I really appreciate what you all did for me." Which was followed by a few statements of something like 'Of course we would, we're family.' "But its someone else's turn next time. I'm done being the victim CSI." Catherine gave him a hug, and Warrick gave him a big pat on the back.

After a few moments the tension was broken. "Can we eat now?"

Catherine laughed at her youngest team member and put her hand on Nick's shoulder in support as she answered Greg. "Of course. Dig in everybody."

Nickobserved his surrogate family and smiled. There are a lot of things to worry about in life, but at the moment, for just a few minutes of happiness and peace, they could be put to the side. This was one of those moments. Cases could wait for at least a few minutes. He then smiled as he reached across the table for a piece of pizza.

A/N - A big "Thank you!" goes out to all of you who kept reading and actually posted reviews and kept me going. I hope that you also liked how I ended the story. In case I don't get a chance later - I hope that each of you have a very happy and healthy holiday season!


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